Resources - Nutrition

Making the best fast-food choice

With so many fast-food options available, it is hard to know whether you are making the best choice. With the push towards healthy eating and overall wellbeing, many fast food outlets are starting to offer healthy options and they are using appealing words such as “97% fat free”, “low fat” or “low in sugar” to catch your attention too. But do these words really mean that the food is a healthy choice?

According to a study by US professors Brian Wansink and Pierre Chandon, the health food claims that come with some fast-food options make us underestimate the number of kilojoules we eat. In “The McSubway Project”, Wansink and Chandon looked at two fast-food outlets – yep that’s right, McDonalds and Subway.While people eating at McDonalds could fairly accurately estimate the number of kilojoules they had eaten, people who chose Subway underestimated their consumption by about 35 per cent. They also found that those eating Subway ate more afternoon snacks, as they felt they deserved it after making a ‘better’ choice at lunch. The researchers call this phenomenon the “health halo”. To ensure you don’t suffer from the “health halo”, use the guide below to help you choose the better fast-food option.

Making the better choice
The fast-food options below have been ranked according to their nutrition content – that is their kilojoule, total fat, saturated fat and salt content. For a product to feature in the better choice column, the food must contain less than 2000kJ, less than 30 per cent of the daily intake for total fat, less than 10 per cent of the daily intake for saturated fat and less than 500mg of sodium. If a food does not meet one or two of these requirements, they are fair choices (but not the best), while food products meeting none or only one of these requirements will be listed in the limit column. Food products may also feature in the limit column if they contain excessive amounts of any of the nutrients mentioned earlier i.e. if a risotto contains 1300mg of sodium per serve it will be a food choice to limit.

Food Outlet	Better choice	Fair	Limit
Wellbeing	Chicken salad Vegie salad Tuna salad Sweet chilli potato salad Chicken and avocado wrap Veggie wrap	Chicken sandwich Tuna sandwich Veggie sandwich Ham sandwich Pumpkin & spinach risotto Chicken, mushroom & pea risotto Roasted tomato & basil soup Chicken Malaysian curry Chicken noodle salad Chicken salad Tofu noodle salad Tuna wrap	Roasted vegetable risotto Chicken & sweet corn soup Pumpkin soup Potato, leek & spinach soup Red Thai prawn curry Beef noodle salad Ham wrap
Sushi	Vegie roll Teriyaki chicken roll Satay chicken roll Chilli chicken roll California roll Tuna roll Tuna deluxe roll Salmon delight roll Avocado roll Chicken & avocado roll Salmon roll	Teriyaki beef Honey & soy chicken Chicken Caesar Tempura prawn
Hungry Jacks		Whopper junior Cheeseburger Hamburger Grilled chicken burger Four nuggets	Whopper with cheese, bacon or egg Double Whopper with cheese Whopper junior with cheese Double cheeseburger Aussie burger Bacon deluxe Veggie burger Chicken wrap Chicken royale Seven nuggets
Alibaba		Falafel kebab Chicken kebab	Lamb kebab Beef kebab
Red Rooster	Garden salad Corn Peas	Cheeseburger Rooster roll Skinfree grilled chicken BLT baguette Skinfree grilled chicken wrap Skinfree chicken baguette Mini grilled wrap 6 x prawn cutlets Coleslaw Roasted potatoes Garlic bread	Classic roast Classic quarter or half Tropicanna Crispy fillet burger Rippa sub Real bacon burger Flayva Fish ‘n chips Fisherman’s basket 8 x salt & pepper squid Pineapple fritters Chicken strips
Subway	Veggie Delite 6-inch sub Roasted chicken salad Veggie delite salad Turkey salad Apple slices	Roasted chicken 6-inch sub Turkey 6-inch sub Ham 6-inch sub Roasted beef 6-inch sub Turkey & ham 6-inch sub Sweet onion chicken 6-inch sub Tuna 6-inch sub Veggie Pattie 6-inch sub Subway club salad Ham salad Roast beef salad Turkey & ham salad Sweet onion chicken teriyaki salad Oat & raisin cookie M&M cookie Double choc chip cookie	Seafood sensation 6-inch sub Chicken & bacon ranch 6-inch sub Chicken fillet 6-inch sub Steak & cheese 6-inch sub Classic shaved steak 6-inch sub Italian BLT 6-inch sub Meatball 6-inch sub Spicy Italian 6-inch sub Subway melt 6-inch sub Peanut butter cookie White chip & macadamia nut cookie Anzac cookie
McDonalds	Mini seared chicken wrap Tick Approved chicken tandoori deli choice on multigrain bread Tick Approved turkey & cranberry deli choice on multigrain bread Garden salad Seared chicken sweet chilli wrap Chicken tandoori wrap.	Hamburger Cheeseburger Lean beef burger Classic crispy chicken burger Fillet ‘O Fish McChicken Chicken nuggets Classic seared chicken burger Seared chicken deluxe Seared chicken fillet with bacon burger McDippers Crispy classic chicken salad with bagel chips Seared chicken Caesar salad with bagel chips Seared classic chicken salad with bagel chips Seared chicken Caesar wrap Crispy chicken sweet chilli wrap	Quarter pounder (or double) Big Mac McFeast deluxe Double or triple cheeseburger Double beef & bacon burger Crispy chicken burger Bacon & egg deli choice Deluxe brekkie deli choice Crispy chicken Caesar wrap Crispy chicken Caesar with bagel chips
Sumo Salad	Tandoori chicken salad Thai beef salad Beetroot & balsamic salad Spiced lentil couscous with citrus dressing Chicken rice paper roll Beef rice paper roll Avocado rice paper roll Prawn rice paper roll Salmon rice paper roll Tandoori chicken wrap	Spicy BBQ prawn salad Moroccan lamb salad Grilled chicken low GI salad Lemon & herb grilled chicken salad Thai beef salad Roasted tomato cous cous salad Italian penne, tomato & eggplant salad Baby potato in basil mayo salad Pumpkin couscous Minestrone soup Chicken & sweet corn soup Lentil & bacon soup Ham, cheese & tomato long roll Sweet chilli chicken long roll Ham, cheese & tomato toastie Philly beef toastie Pumpkin & ricotta toastie Chicken & pesto toastie Smoked ham, capsicum sun-dried tomato & pesto toastie Moroccan lamb wrap Tandoori chicken wrap	Grilled chicken Caesar salad Chicken schnitzel salad Chickpea, fetta & pancetta salad Rocket, fetta & sun-dried tomato salad Pumpkin soup Tomato & basil soup Chicken BAT long roll Country chicken long roll Prawn basil long roll Tuna cheese long roll Chicken schnitzel toastie Chicken, bacon & avocado toastie Cuban beef toastie Bacon & egg toastie Falafel wrap Pumpkin & pine nut wrap Moroccan lamb wrap Beef wrap Nicoise wrap Chicken schnitzel wrap Falafel wrap
Oporto	Coleslaw Pasta salad	Chicken without skin Small Bondi burger Small norm burger Kiddo burger Fresco salad with dressing only	Chicken with skin Regular Bondi burger Big Bondi burger Regular norm burger Big norm burger Otropo burger Fresco salad with mayo & dressing

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